Calling 353: Why we should celebrate the Twelfth of July

Darach Ó Séaghdha Author and linguist

In Calling 353, a new series for The Journal, bestselling Motherfoclóir author and podcaster Darach Ó Séaghdha casts a linguistic eye on how we talk about what it means to be Irish, the signs we post to each other about Irishness – and what really lies beneath it all. 

Dear reader, do you think that you deserve another bank holiday? I think you do. Maybe one that can fill the long, dragging weeks between the first Monday in June and the first Monday in August.

And if this day should also be an occasion where we can celebrate the range of backgrounds that have contributed to this country’s history, wouldn’t that be ever better? Something that acknowledges the importance of Protestant traditions in the forming of modern Irish identities, perhaps?

I am, of course, talking about our first President, Douglas Hyde, who died on July 12, 1949.

For the day that’s in it, I would like to offer you seven reasons why a bank holiday in the seventh month, in honour of President Hyde, is exactly what the country needs.

A European at heart

1. We all know that Douglas Hyde, or Dubhglas De hÍde, was a fluent Irish speaker who came from an Anglican background, straddling two of the major cultural forces that have shaped Ireland as we know it. But let’s not forget that he was also a European at heart with great knowledge of French and German, among other languages.

Putting him in that European context, the Edinburgh Evening News in 1938 noted, “Dr Hyde will be no Hitler or Mussolini, nor is he expected to follow their example. He will, on the other hand, prove that the example of Czechoslovakia in appointing such a famous scholar as Dr [Tomáš] Masaryk to be their first President was the wisest model Ireland could follow.”

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A gentle leader

2. People will disagree and debate about the moment that Irish neutrality truly began – some will link it to WWII, some will trace it back to the anti-conscription movement that defined the 1918 Election in Ireland. But the multi-party invitation of Hyde the professor to take the role was a deliberate decision to choose a gentle leader through a collaborative approach over a military “strongman” figure.

Champion for camogie

3. Hyde was a great supporter of camogie – its promotion was a labour of love for him as patron of the GAA, so much so that on the occasion of his election to president, his commitment to the sport since its foundation was noted in multiple publications, including the Dublin Weekly Mail. And when was the first official camogie game held? July 13, 1904. Perhaps the July bank holiday could also commemorate this? Hyde won’t mind sharing.

Punished by the GAA

4. As another World Cup draws to a close it is worth remembering that Hyde is intimately linked to the history of both Association Football and GAA in Ireland. After attending a soccer friendly between Ireland and Poland at Dalymount in 1938, Hyde was made an example of by the GAA who wanted to draw attention to their stance on “foreign games”. He was removed as a patron of the organisation after a nearly six-month process after serving in the role for 36 years.

In the decades since, we’ve seen that the GAA has thrived without such restrictions and a day to acknowledge the excessive punishment of a man who loved our national games so much wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Poetry and diplomacy

5. You could argue that it might be nicer to celebrate Douglas Hyde on the occasion of his birthday or his election to President, but I think that linking it to July 12 (or the second Monday in July) would be more in the spirit of the celebration.

Hyde was a great believer in national determination and decolonisation, and July 12 was the occasion of the first flying of the Aboriginal Flag. Hyde loved poetry and diplomacy and saw the overlap in these two crafts, and July 12 also happens to be the birthday of Chilean poet and diplomat Pablo Neruda.

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Advocate for accessibility

6. Following a terrible stroke in 1940, Hyde required the use of a wheelchair for his own mobility. He continued to serve as President during this time and, in introducing practical accommodations to allow him to keep working, Áras an Uachtaráin could be considered the State’s first wheelchair-accessible public building. Many of these accommodations were temporary and the Irish Wheelchair Association still had a huge fight on their hands when they formed in 1960. But Hyde’s term in office showed that these accommodations could be made, the will to do so was the real obstacle.

The guy who just wanted us all to get along

7. Hyde wasn’t perfect, he had flaws like you and I (not that you have flaws that I can see, dear reader – ní fheiceann leannán locht*). A day in his honour isn’t about hero worship.

We’re honouring the things he tried to honour – access for people with disabilities, poetry, the Irish language, gentle Christianity, Europe, a passion for all sports with equal access to the playing fields… and choosing the person who wants everyone to get along over the macho posers who claim they can fix everything.

Finally, July 12 is also the birthday of current president Catherine Connolly!

Darach will be back next Sunday with more thoughts on the words and Irish cultural phenomena that unite us.

*love sees no blemish :)

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